Chapter 98: The Original Wife Becomes the Mistress
"Liu Meiling, you have the nerve to show your face here?"
Admiring her manicure, Liu Meiling glanced contemptuously at the older woman before her. "What’s wrong? Am I an eyesore?"
Jiang Li watched from a short distance. ’Could the woman standing before Liu Meiling be the mistress?’
"Well, well, everyone, come and see! This shameless old hag tried and failed to seduce my man, and now she has the audacity to come looking for me."
Seeing a commotion, the surrounding crowd quickly gathered, pointing and whispering about the woman in front of Liu Meiling.
"I’m not, I’m not! You are! You’re the mistress!"
Liu Meiling sneered. "Are all mistresses this shameless nowadays? Or are you going to say the one who isn’t loved is the real mistress?"
"Mistresses these days have no morals. They’ll say anything."
"Tch, shameless! Mistresses should just go die!"
The crowd’s emotions were instantly stirred up, and they all started pointing fingers at the woman.
Liu Meiling laughed. "We have a child together. Don’t you dare try to destroy my family, you shameless homewrecker!"
Liu Meiling smiled smugly, bag in hand, and led her companions into the mall.
Jiang Li watched the farce play out. Only after the crowd dispersed did she step forward. The woman before her was around forty years old, with dry, yellowish hair and calloused hands.
"Here, wipe yourself off." Jiang Li handed her a tissue.
"Th-thank you." Ma Shufang took the tissue and wiped herself down, her eyes filled with sorrow.
"Are you willing to come back with me? I’d like to ask you some things about Wu Jianzhang."
Ma Shufang’s head snapped up to look at her, but then she just shook her head helplessly and gave a miserable smile.
"I’m sorry, I can’t go with you. Wu Jianzhang’s men will be looking for me soon."
"Then, let’s exchange contact info."
Ma Shufang nodded. After they added each other, she urged Jiang Li to leave quickly.
Jiang Li turned and went back to her car. A few minutes later, several men in black appeared in the plaza and took Ma Shufang away.
’It seems Ma Shufang is Wu Jianzhang’s real wife. As for Liu Meiling and that child, they must be the latecomers who took over.’
A flicker of anticipation grew in Jiang Li’s heart. From the looks of her, Ma Shufang must have been with Wu Jianzhang for a very long time. She might know something.
’Otherwise, he wouldn’t have people keeping such a close watch on her.’
Jiang Li drove off. By the time she got home, Ma Shufang still hadn’t sent her a single message.
Jiang Li sighed. ’This is going to be a long and arduous journey.’
"Sister, what’s wrong?" Miao Anji, who was playing with a bug in his hands, hurried over when he saw Jiang Li collapsed on the sofa.
Jiang Li looked at the bug in his hand and sat up. "Xiao Ji, your Gu Worms... can they burrow into a person’s skin?"
"If you don’t want the person to know, then of course, you make them eat it." Miao Anji put down the bug and started rummaging through his wicker basket.
"Sister, what kind are you looking for? I have them all."
Jiang Li rested her chin on her hand. ’If I have him killed outright, what if it brings harm to Xiao Ji? But if the punishment is too light, wouldn’t that be letting Wu Jianzhang off too easily?’
"I need to think about it carefully."
Miao Anji’s eyes lit up. ’Looks like Sister really likes my bugs!’
"Okay! Then be sure to tell me when you decide, Sister."
Miao Anji smiled at Jiang Li. ’Grandma has a rule against using Gu carelessly, but she’s my Sister, after all.’
"Where are Xiao Nian and Wu Ming?" Jiang Li looked around but didn’t see them.
"They went out. Said they were going to catch a wanted fugitive," Miao Anji said, taking the opportunity to fish for praise. "Sister, see how well-behaved I am? I don’t run around all over the place."
Miao Anji’s words made Jiang Li laugh. "Xiao Ji is such a good boy. By the way, Xiao Ji, when are you planning to go back?"
Miao Anji’s hand paused, and he looked up at her. "I’ll go back when you’re done with your business, Sister."
"Alright, I’ll try to be as quick as possible." Jiang Li smiled and stood up. She would try to get Wu Jianzhang put away as quickly as possible.
"Then go get busy, Sister!" Miao Anji said, watching her with a harmless-looking smile.
"Okay, call me if you need anything." Jiang Li went into her room to continue organizing the information on Wu Jianzhang.
The moment Jiang Li’s door closed, the smile vanished from Miao Anji’s face. He got up, went back to his own room, set out his jars, and began feeding his bugs.
Finally, he carefully selected one from the bunch, setting it aside for Jiang Li.
After returning to her room and finishing her organizing, Jiang Li fell into bed and went straight to sleep.
"Ma Shufang, it seems I’ve been too good to you.
Didn’t I tell you not to bother Meiling and my son!
Bitch! If anything happens to my son, I’ll kill you!"
Jiang Li watched as the Ma Shufang in front of her was grabbed by the hair and slammed against the wall, and a wave of fury washed over her.
’So I’m seeing this from Wu Jianzhang’s perspective?’
’How disgusting! How vile!’
"Wu Jianzhang, you... you’re not human! I’ve been with you for twenty-two years, since I was eighteen, and this is how you treat me?
And you call yourself a hospital director! I... PTOOEY!"
Ma Shufang, her face beaten black and blue, spat a mouthful of bloody saliva at Wu Jianzhang.
Rage surged in Wu Jianzhang’s heart. He looked at Ma Shufang with murder in his eyes. He had originally planned to let her live a while longer.
But since she didn’t know what was good for her, she couldn’t blame him for being ruthless.
Jiang Li sensed Wu Jianzhang’s thoughts and was horrified. She frantically tried to regain control of her own consciousness, just like that time with Cao Tianwang.
Wu Jianzhang threw Ma Shufang to the ground, walked to the kitchen, and grabbed a kitchen knife.
"Wu Jianzhang! You... you’re actually going to kill me!" Ma Shufang stared at the cold glint of the knife in his hand and scrambled backward in fear, but every movement sent pain shooting through her body.
She watched him, her heart filled with bitterness and despair. She had been the one by his side through thick and thin, only to end up with no name and no status.
She never could have imagined that the man she had loved for twenty years was not only keeping another woman behind her back, but that their marriage certificate was also a fake.
His one with Liu Meiling was the real one.
Ma Shufang closed her eyes in despair. The image of the young woman from earlier today flashed through her mind. ’It looks like I won’t be able to help her after all.’
Wu Jianzhang tightened his grip on the knife and advanced step by step, his eyes filled with nothing but disgust for Ma Shufang.
"You barren hen, you have the nerve to blame me? You couldn’t even give me a child in over twenty years! What use are you?
Ma Shufang, for old times’ sake, I was going to let you live a little longer. But since you won’t listen, you can just go die!"